Bearing-chock balance



Nov. 1, 1960 B. J. DUBSKY BEARING-CHOCK BALANCE Filed Dec. 9, 1958INVENTOR. MIQA/EV J. 0065/0 States Patent Ofiice 2,958,525 Patented Nov.1, 1969 BEARING-CHUCK BALANCE Barney J. Dubsky, Cleveland, Ohio,assignor to United States Steel Corporation, a corporation of New JerseyFiled Dec. 9, 1958, Ser. No. 779,091

3 Claims. (Cl. 267- 1) This invention relates to rolling mill balancesof the type comprising a balance hanger rod in the form of a screw boltand a spring for supporting the top bearingchocks of a roll stand,especially 4-high roll stands, on a mill housing. More particularly itrelates to an auxiliary support for suspending the balance hanger rod inan elevated position on its supporting spring during roll changes.

Bearing-chock balances are commonly used to furnish a support for thetop roll assembly that maintains a predetermined clearance between thework rolls during the time intervals when work is not passing throughthe mill, and to take up play in the roll-neck hearing assemblies andscrewdown mechanism. In the spring balance type referred to above, thebalance rods or hangers must be disconnected from the bearing-chocks andmoved upwardly to a position clearing the roll housing windows when rollchanges are to be made. For this purpose, props in the form of sticks ofwood or other material are used to hold the balance rods in an elevatedposition. Such props are sometimes lost and, because of the grease anddirt encountered in the area where they are used, frequently slip fromtheir operative holding positions thereby permitting the hangers tofall. In addition to the possibility of accident as the result of thispractice, falling hangers increase the time required for changing rolls.

One of the principal objects of this invention is to provide anauxiliary support for holding bearing-chock hanger balance rods in anelevated position that will eliminate the above mentioned disadvantagesof conventional practices. A further object is to provide an auxiliarysupport which is mounted on the balance spring for movement betweenoperative and inoperative supporting positions with respect to thebalance rod to be held in an elevated position. To these and relatedends, the invention contemplates an L-shaped supporting member that ispivotally mounted on the upper end of the balance spring for movement toa position in which one leg thereof extends along the balance rod andoperates to hold it in an elevated position in a manner to be described.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent fromthe following description.

In the drawings, there is shown a preferred embodiment of the invention.In this showing:

Figure l is a fragmentary end elevation of a 4-high roll stand showing aspring balance for its top bearingchock which is provided with anauxiliary support according to the principles of this invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevation looking from the right of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view showing the auxiliary supportof this invention in its operative position holding a balance rodelevated with respect to its supporting spring; and

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line IVIV ofFigure 3.

Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings show a fragmentary portion of a millhousing 1 for a 4-high strip mill, and illustrate the conventionalarrangement of a top bearingchock 2 mounted for vertical movement in ahousing window 3 and a screwdown 4 for adjusting its vertical positiontherein. The bearing-chock 2 forms part of an assembly for the upperback-up and work rolls (not shown) and has a spring balance forsuspending it on the housing 1 during intervals when work is not passingthrough the mill. Such spring balance comprises a pair of pins 5 thatextend through the chock 2 and four hangers or balance rods 6 ofidentical construction, which have eyelets at their lower ends in whichthe ends of the hanger pins 5 are received. Each of the rods 6 extendsvertically through a notch 7 in a supporting ledge 8 forming an integralpart of the housing 1 and axially through a coil spring 9 by which it issupported on the ledge 8. Washers 10 furnish a support for the lowerends of the springs 9 on the housing ledges 8 and washers 11 at theirupper ends furnish a support for shoulders in the form of nuts 12threaded on the upper ends of the rods 6. When a roll change isrequired, the hanger pins 5 must be removed and the balance rods 6elevated and supported in a position in which their lower ends arearranged above the bearing-checks 2 to permit their removal andreplacement by endwise movement through the housing window 3.

The auxiliary support of this invention for holding the balance rods 6in their elevated roll changing positions comprises L-shaped supportingmembers 13 respectively mounted on each of the upper balance springsupporting washers 11. Each of the L-shaped members 13 has a shorthorizontal leg 14 pivotally connected to the outer edge of an upperbalance spring washer 11 by a hinge 15, and a longer vertical leg 16that furnishes a support for the hanger rod 6 when it is pivoted throughan angle of from its inoperative position shown in Figures 1 and 2 toits operative position shown in Figure 3. In its inoperative positionshown in Figure 2, the leg 16 depends vertically from the washer 11along the outer edge of the spring 9, and in its operative positionshown in Figure 4, the leg 16 extends along the outer surface of the rod6 for supporting engagement with a shoulder nut 12. The outer end ofeach supporting leg 16 has a U-shaped collar 17 that is adapted to havea snug fi-t about the rod 6. The length of the shorter leg 14corresponds to the radial spacing of the hinge 15 with respect to therod 6, so that the longer leg 16 will extend vertically along the rodwhen swung to the operative holding position illustrated in Figures 3and 4.

After removal of the pins 5 and elevation of the balance rods 6according to conventional roll changing procedures, the auxiliarysupport members 13 are pivoted through an angle of 180 from the positionshown in Figure 1 to the position shown in Figure 3 in which theirsupporting legs 16 operate to engage the nuts 12 and hold the rods 6 intheir suspended positions. In the latter position, the weight of therods 6 resting on the collars 17 tends to rotate the members 13 aboutthe hinges 15 in a direction toward the rods 6 (counterclockwise asviewed in Figure 3) and thus prevents accidental downward movement ofthe rods suspended thereon.

While one embodiment of my invention has been shown and described itwill be apparent that other adaptations and modifications may be madewithout departing from the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A supporting assembly comprising a coil spring, a rod extendingaxially of said spring, cooperating parts re spectively on said springand rod normally having abutting engagement with each other for holdingsaid rod in a normal position relative to said spring, and meansinsertable between said parts for holding said rod in a position spacedaxially outwardly from said normal position comprising an L-shapedspacing member, and a hinge connecting the outer end of one leg of saidmember to one of said parts for pivotal movement through an angle of 180from an inoperative holding position to an operative position in whichits other leg extends along said rodand is arranged between said parts.

2. In a balance for top back-up and work*oll bearingchocks including acoil spring having a washer supported on its upper end, and a bearingchock balance rod extending axially of said spring and having a nut onits upper end for supporting engagement on said washer, the combinationtherewith of an auxiliary support for holding said rod in an elevatedposition relative to said spring comprising an L-shaped spacing memberhaving a pair of legs of unequal length, a hinge connecting the outerend of the shorter one of said legs to said washer in a horizontalposition extending radially outwardly with respect to said rod and thelonger one of said legs depending vertically therefrom and in a positionradially outwardly with respect to said spring, said member beingpivotally movable through an angle of 180 to a position in which saidshorter leg extends inwardly from said hinge and said longer leg extendsvertically upwardly along said rod for supporting engagement with saidnut,

and an outwardly opening collar on the outer end of said longer leg forembracing engagement with said rod when said longer leg is in said nutsupporting position.

3. In a balance for top back-up and work-roll bearing chocks including acoil spring having a washer supported on its upper end, and a bearingchock balance rod extending axially of said spring and having a nut onits upper end for supporting engagement on said washer, the combinationtherewith of an auxiliary support for holding said rod in an elevatedposition relative to said spring comprising an elongated supportingmember, and a hinge connecting one end of said supporting member withsaid washer for movement from an inoperative holding position in whichit is out of the space between said washer and nut to an operativeholding position in which it extends vertically upwardly along said rodand its other end has supporting engagement with said nut.

References Cited' in thefile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,904,102 Thompson Apr. 18, 1933 2,698,752 Cole Jan. 4, 1955 2,703,907Newell Mar. 15, 1955 2,793,869 Braun May 28, 1957

